THE DEVAYANA AND THE PITRIYANA

[Ms Tercy Lonan]

THE DEVAYANA AND THE PITRIYANA
When aman who has practised meditation and worship dies, he first goes to light, then from
light to day, from day to the bright half of the moon, from the bright half of the moon to the six
months when the sun goes to the north, from that to the year, from the year to the sun, from the sun
to the moon, from the moon to the lightning. When he comes to the sphere of lightning, he meets a
person who is not human. That person leads him to the Karya Brahman or Hiranyagarbha. This is
the Way of the Devas or Devayana.
He who has done works of public utility and alms, first goes to the smoke when he dies,
from smoke to night, from night to the dark half of the moon, from the dark half of the moon to the
six months when the sun goes to the south; and from that, he goes to the region of the forefathers,
from the world of the forefathers to the ether, from the ether to the moon. He lives there so long as
his good works will allow. When the effect of the good works is exhausted, he comes back to this
earth by the same route. He first becomes ether, and then air, and then smoke, and then mist, then
cloud, and then falls upon the earth as rain-drops. Then he gets into food which is eaten up by man,
and finally becomes his child.
He passes through the various existences of the mineral kingdom, of the plant and of the
animal realms—the Udbhijja (born of seed), the Svedaja (born of sweat) and the Andaja (born of
eggs), before coming into the Jarayuja (viviparous or of placental origin).